Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies with a Lemon Icing

Sourdough Gingerbread Cookies

With Lemon Drizzle Finish

These sourdough gingerbread cookies are soft, gently spiced, and deeply comforting – the kind of Christmas baking that feels both nostalgic and quietly special. Fermented overnight for flavour and digestibility, they’re finished three ways: dusted simply with icing sugar, topped with a lemony icing dollop, or drizzled lightly for a brighter finish.

This recipe is adapted from a Cultured Guru recipe, and the moment I saw it, it took me straight back to my childhood. It reminded me of my grandma and the classic New Zealand gingernut cookies she used to give us – so hard they nearly broke your teeth, but utterly iconic. These are a far more satisfying evolution of that memory: slightly delicate and cake-like in the middle, with a crisp, delicately crunchy outer edge. Warm, fragrant, and absolutely delicious.

A whisper of clove adds depth without overpowering the gingerbread – just enough to warm the back note.

These are the perfect cookie for morning or afternoon tea with a cup of freshly brewed tea or coffee. They would also make the perfect handmade xmas gift!

Makes

Approximately 24–30 cookies depending on size

Time

Prep: 15 minutes
Ferment: 12 hours (overnight)
Bake: 12–15 minutes

Part 1: Gingerbread Sourdough Starter

(To use in the cookie recipe below)

This gingerbread sourdough starter is made by feeding an established starter with molasses and warm spices. It creates a dark, fragrant, highly active starter that brings both flavour and nourishment to the cookies.

Ingredients

• 30 g active established sourdough starter
• 150 g bread flour
• 60 g water
• 60 g organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground clove
• 3–4 tbsp water, as needed

Method

Once active, use 100 g of this starter in the cookie dough below.

In a bowl, mix the water, established starter, and molasses until smooth.

Stir in the flour and spices, adding extra water as needed to create a thick but workable starter.

Cover loosely and ferment at room temperature until bubbly and peaked.
Due to the mineral-rich molasses, this starter will ferment quickly and may peak more than once.

Cookie Ingredients

Gingerbread Cookie Dough

• 340 g plain (all-purpose) flour
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• 5 g fine sea salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• A small pinch ground clove
• 200 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150 g cane sugar
• 120 g molasses
• 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g active gingerbread sourdough starter (recipe above)

Method

1. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the butter, cane sugar, and molasses until smooth and well combined.
2. Scrape down the bowl. Add the whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla, and sourdough starter. Beat until fully incorporated, light, and glossy.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and fold gently with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Cover the bowl with beeswax wrap or plastic wrap or bowl with a sealing lid, and refrigerate for 12 hours to ferment.
6. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
7. Scoop the dough into roughly 25–30 g balls (or roll into 50 g balls for larger cookies). Space them about 5–6 cm apart on the tray.
8. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the edges are set and lightly golden while the centres remain a little bit soft.
9. Once baked, move cookie wto a cooling rack and allow cookies to cool completely cool before decorating.

Lemon Icing & Finishing

Lemon Icing

• 1/2 -1 cup of icing sugar
• 1/2 fresh lemon, juiced

Mix icing sugar with lemon juice:

• To a thick paste for dollops
• Slightly thinner for drizzling

To Finish (Divide cookies into thirds)

• ⅓ dusted lightly with icing sugar
• ⅓ topped with a spoonful of thick lemon icing
• ⅓ drizzled with thinner lemon icing

Allow icing to set before storing.